Attachment for lister planters



Feb. 4, 1936. c, SHEDD r 2,029,680

ATTACHMENT FOR LISTER PLANTERS Filed Dec. 15, 1934 mvENTURs CLAUDE K- EEJJIJ En GAR V. EBLLINE AT TDRNEY Patented Feb. 4, 1936 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Claude K. Shedd and Edgar V. Collins Ames,

Iowa, dedicated to the free use of the Public Application December 15,1934, Serial No. 757,598

3 Claims.

(Granted under the act. of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,

This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended bythe act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described may bemanufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposeswithout the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

We hereby dedicate the invention herein described to the free use of thepublic, to take eflect upon the granting of a patent to us.

Our invention which we desire to secure by Letters Patent relates toimprovements in farm implements, and more particularly to that type ofimplement known as a lister planter which is used to plant corn, cotton,and other crops in furrows-so that the soil oan'be cultivated during thegrowth of the crop. It is the object of our invention to provide anattachment for producing transverse dams at suitable intervals in thefurrows formed by a lister planter, thus forming, 20 between the dams,'basins which will contain rainwater, until it is absorbed by the soil.

In order to facilitate the description of our invention so as to makethis application independent of any existing patents more or lessremotely resembling our inventiomwe will describe briefly the methodpursued in planting row crops with a lister planter. The lister planternow in common use comprises a furrow opening memher, which is a plowhaving a double moldboard. The dirt thrown to either side from thefurrows forms ridges between the furrows. The seed'is planted in thebotto'm of the furrow by a seed planting mechanism, which is part of thelister planter. Cultivation during growth of the crop works dirt backfrom the ridges into the fur-' rows so that after the last cultivationis completed, the ground surface is again practically level.

It has been found that when crops are planted by the use of listerplanters the water precipitated during heavy rains flows freely in thefurrows. This causes the following difliculties:

1. Seed, small plants and soil are washed out of the furrow bottoms onslopes in the land surface.

2. Water and eroded soil accumulate and stand in the furrows at lowpoints in the land surface thus covering up or drowning the crop.

3. On rolling lands water needed in the soil so for plant growth is lostby run-off and a great deal of the richest part of the soil is carriedaway with this run-01f water.

It is the object of our invention to provide an attachment for a listerplanter of such a nature 55 that a lister planter provided with our.attach- 1928f370 O. G. 757) ment, besides forming furrows and plantingseed in the bottom of the furrows in the usual manner, will also formtransverse dams at suitable intervals in these furrows, so thatrainwater will be retained in the basins between the dams until 5 it isabsorbed by the soil.

The difliculties heretofore encountered by the use of lister planterswill thus be eliminated by the use of our invention.

With the foregoing, and other objects, as will 10 hereinafter appear,our invention resides in an attachment for a lister planter of coonlyused construction. For this purpose reference will be had to theaccompanying drawing, in which the preferred embodiment of our inventionhas been illustrated, and in which:

Figure l is a top plan view ofv the attachment;

Figure 2 is' a side elevation of the attacit .tt nt;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the forward portion of theattachment;

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section of a portion of ourattachment;

' Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of afurrow showing the preferredrelative location of seed and dams.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views,

The attachment illustrated in the drawing is adapted to be attached to atwo-rowimplement, but this size of implement as to number of rows 3 mustbe-considered as illustrative only, and not limiting our invention to atwo-row implement, since our invention may be practiced equally as wellwith a single-row, or with a multiple-row implement.

Ourattachment is adapted to be secured to the rear of a lister planterframe I. A hearing 2 is positioned in the rear of and above the furrowforming member of the planter with its axial line horizontal andextending transversely of the implement. A short shaft 3 is journalledin the bearing 2 and extends laterally with respect to the implement toa point outside of the outer edge of the furrow opened by the implement.

Anarm 4 is rigidly secured to the outer end of and. at right angles toshaft 3 and, in operation extends rearwardly in a generally horizontalposition. An axle 5 is rigidly secured to the rearward end of arm 4,atright angles thereto and extending parallel to shaft 2. A rotarypaddle 5 wheel scraper 6 is journalled and rotates freely upon axle 5and is secured, by suitable means, not shown, against endwise movementupon the same. Paddle wheel scraper ti comprises a huh 1, four equallyspaced radial spokes 8 rigidly secured to hub by suitable means, notshown, and scraper blades 9 rigidly secured to each of the spokes 8, andextending parallel to axle 5. Scraper blades 9 are shaped to fit thebottom and sides of the furrow formed by the plow of lister planter.

By this novel construction and arrangement of parts, the rearward end ofthe arm 4 carrying axle 5 is free to move up and down so that the paddlewheel scraper 6 will automatically adjust its position to uneven groundsurface. This construction also permits the paddle wheel scrapers 6 tobe raised for purposes of transportation, by means hereinafterdescribed.

As the lister planter moves forward, the scraping action of the scraperblades 9 in the furrow tends to revolve the paddle wheel scraper 6 uponaxle 5. The paddle wheel scraper 6 is held stationary at such a point inits rotation that one of the scraper blades 9 is held in a verticalposition, so as to scrape the dirt I 6 from the sides and bottom of thefurrow Ii. At predetermined intervals the paddle wheel scraper 6 isreleased and allowed to revolve one-fourth revolution and is again heldstationary with the next succeeding scraper blade 9 in scrapingposition. The

dirt IU accumulated by the scraper blade 9 and left in the furrow I I,as the paddle wheel scraper 6 rolls forward over it, forms a dam I2extending transversely of the furrow II.

The paddle wheel scraper 6 is held stationary by a horizontal hollowroller I3, which extends transversely of the planter in such a positionas to engage the outer end of the forwardly extending scraper blade 9 ofthe paddle wheel scraper 6. Roller I3 is rotatably mounted on rollershaft I4 which extends entirely through roller I3 and projects at eachend beyond the end of the roller I3. The projecting ends of shaft I arerigidly secured, by welding or other suitable means, to the lower endsof parallel levers I5. The upper ends of levers I5 are pivotally securedto brackets I6, which are rigidly secured, by welding or other suitablemeans, to lever arms 4. The weight of roller I3 and shaft I4 tend tocause levers I5 to hang in a vertical position from their pivots andhold roller I3 in position to engage the outer end of scraper blade 9and prevent paddle wheel scraper 6 from rotating.

At predetermined intervals the levers I5 are swung forward momentarily,carrying roller I3 outward beyond the circumference of paddle wheelscraper 6 releasing the scraper blade 9 and allowing the paddle wheelscraper 6 to rotate. The roller I3 is quickly returned to its normalposition in time to engage the next succeeding scraper blade 9,permitting paddle wheel scraper 6 to rotate only one fourth revolution.

The means by which levers I5 are swung forward are as follows: Ahorizontal stud I1 is welded, or otherwise suitably secured, to theupper part of bearing 2 and extends transversely outward therefrom. Adisc I8, having on each side a concentric hub, is rotatively mounted onstud I1 and is secured, by suitable means not shown, against endwisemovement on the same. A sprocket wheel I9 is concentrically mounted onthe inner hub of the disc I8 and is secured to the same by any suitablemeans. Disc I8 is rotated by means of an endless chain 20, driven from asprocket wheel 3| adapted to be mounted on a rotating shaft of theplanter, which omrates the seed depositing mechanism. Disc I6 isprovided on its outer face with an eccentrically mounted pin 2|. Aroller 22 is rotatably mounted on pin 2I and is secured, by any suitablemeans against endwise movement upon the same. A trip bar 23 is pivotallyconnected by any suitable means, at its rear end, to the lower end ofone of the levers I5 and extends forwardly so that its forward end, whenin its lowest position, rests upon the outer hub of disc I8. One end ofa link 24 is rotatably mounted on the outer end of stud I7, and issecured by any suitable means against endwise movement on the stud IT.The other end of link 24 is pivotally connected at a point des ignatedby the letter A to the trip bar 23. A projection or dog 25 is secured,by welding or other suitable means, to the lower edge of trip bar 23 atsuch a point on the same that, as the disc I8 is rotated, roller 22 onpin 2i will contact with the rear face of dog 25 at the same time thatit contacts with the lower edge of trip bar 23. Further rotation of discI8 will result in the lifting and drawing forward of the forward end oftrip bar 23 and the swinging forward of the lower end of lever I5, andwith it the roller shaft I4 and hollow roller I3. This movement ofroller I3 carries it out beyond the circumference of the paddle wheelscraper 6, releasing it and permitting it to rotate. A slight furtherrotation of disc I8 beyond the point at which paddle wheel scraper 6 isreleased causes the dog 25 to be carried out of engagement with theroller 22 on pin 2I due to the greater radius of the arc traversed bythe point A on trip bar 23 and the greater angularity of trip bar 23.The weight of the trip bar 23 causes it to drop back to its initialposition as soon as roller 22 disengages dog 25, thereby also returninghollow roller I3 into position to engage the scraper blade 9 nextsucceeding the blade just released.

When the implement is in operation, the paddle wheel scraper 6 isreleased and allowed to turn one fourth revolution for each revolutionof the disc I8. By replacing sprocket wheel I9 with another of differentsize, it is possible to change the speed of rotation of disc I8 and thuschange the frequency of formation of dams I2 in the furrows II withoutmaking any change in th seeding mechanism of the planter.

The paddle wheel scrapers 6 may be lifted and held clear of the groundby means described as follows: A lever 26 is secured, by welding orother suitable means, at its lower end to lever arm 4 at a point near tothe forward end of the lever arm 4 and extends upward therefrom. A link21 is pivotally connected to the lever 26 at a point indicated byreference letter B. The link 21 comprises two link bars 26 one each sideof the lever 26 joined near their upper ends by a short cross bar 26which is welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the back edges of thelink bars 28. By this construction the link 21 can pivot rearwardly butnot forwardly from the center line of the lever 26. A lifting bar III ispivotally connected to the top part of the link 21. The forward end ofthe lifting bar 30 is operatively connected with the plow liftingmechanism of the lister planter in such manner that the lifting bar 30will be moved forwardly and raise scrapers 6 from the ground when thelifting mechanism is operated to raise the plow bottoms, and will lowerscrapers 6 when plow bottoms are lowered.

We prefer to employ our invention in connection with lister plantersadapted to deposit seed in hills, at regularly spaced intervals, andwith the releasing mechanism of the attachment so timed as to form damsin the furrow at similarly spaced intervals and located in the spacesbeaosaeeo tween the planted bills; as she in Figure in which dams it areshown in furrow ii intermediate between planted hills of seed it,

Our invention may also be practiced with the releasing mechanism timedto form dams directly over the planted hills, at intermediate positions,

or at intervals didering from the intervals between hills. It may befurther practiced with lister planters adapted to plant seed in corntinuous rows.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new is:

1. An attachment for a lister planter, compris ing a bearing adapted tobe secured to the rear portion of the lister planter frame and substantially in rear of a plow oi the lister planter and disposed with itsaxis horizontal and extending transversely of the planter, a shaftjournalled in said bearing, a freely swinging arm secured to said shaftand extending substantially rear=- wardly therefrom, an axle secured tothe rear end of said arm and extending parallel to said shaft, amulti-blade rotary scraper journalled upon said axle and having a hubwith a plurality of scraper blades extending radially therefrom andadapted to scrape soil from the sides and bottom of a furrow formed bythe plow of said planter, a bracket rigidly secured to said arm at anintermediate point thereon and extending substantially upwardlytherefrom, a pendant lever pivotally connected to the upper portion ofsaid bracket and depending therefrom, a second shaft rigidly secured tothe lower end of said pendant lever and extending parallel to saidasrle, a hollow roller mounted and rotating freely on said second shaftand suitably secured against endwise movement thereon and adapted toengage a blade of said rotary scraper, a stud mount= ed above andparallel to said bearing and secured thereto, a disc rotatively mountedon said stud and having on each side concentric hubs, a sp'roclret wheelmounted on and secured to a hub of said disc and driven by an endlesschain, a pin mounted eccentrically on the outer face of said disc, asecond roller rotatively mounted on said pin and suitably securedagainst endwise move= rnent thereon, a trip bar pivotally connected atits rearward end to the lower end of said pendant lever and extendingforwardly therefrom, a link pivotally connected at its inner end to saidstud and pivotally connected at its outer end to said trip bar at apoint substantially intermediate be tween the mid length and the forwardend there= of, a dog secured to the lower edge of said trip bar andadapted to be intermittently engaged and suddenly released by saidsecond roller, an upright lever secured at its lower end to the for wardportion of said arm, a second linir pivotally connected at its lower endto said upright lever and having on its rearward edge a cross baradapted to engage the rear edge of said upright lever, a lifting barpivotally connected at its rear end to the upper end of said secondlinlr and operatively connected at its forward end to an operativemember of the plow lifting mechanism of the planter.

2. An attachment for a lister planter, com= prising a bearing adapted tobe secured to the rear portion of the lister planter frame andsubstantially in rear of a plow of the lister planter and disposed withits axis horizontal and eirtend ing transversely of the planter, a shaftjournalled in said bearing, a freely swinging arm secured to said shaftand extending substantially rearwardly therefrom, an axle secured to therear end of said arm and extending parallel to said shaft, a multibladerotary scraper journallecl upon said axle and having a hub with aplurality of scraper blades extending radially therefrom and adapted toscrape soil from the sides and bottom of a furrow formed by the plow ofsaid planter, a bracket rigidly secured to said arm at an intermediatepoint thereon and extending substantially upwardly therefrom, a pendantlever pivotally connected to the upper portion of said bracket anddepending therefrom, a second shaft rigidly secured to the lower end ofsaid pendant lever and extending parallel to said axle, a hollow rollermounted and rotating freely on said second shaft and suitably securedagainst endwise movement thereon and adapted to engage a blade of saidrotary scraper, a stud mounted above and paral lel to said bearing andsecured thereto, a disc ro tatively mounted on said stud and having oneach side concentric hubs, a sprocket wheel mounted on and secured to ahub of said disc and driven by an endless'chain, a pin mountedeccentrieally I on the outer face of said disc, a second rollerrotatively mounted on said pin and suitably secured against endwisemovement thereon, a trip bar pivotally connected at its rearward end tothe lowor end of said pendant lever and extending forwardly therefrom, alimit pivotally connected at its inner end to said stud and pivotallyconnected at its outer end to said trip bar at a point substantiallyintermediate between the mid-length and the forward end thereof, and adog secured to the lower edge of said trip bar and adapted to beintermittently engaged and suddenly released by said second roller.

3. An attachment for a lister planter, comprising a bearing adapted tobe secured to the rear portion of the lister planter frame and substantiaily in rear of a plow of the lister planter and disposed with itsaxis horizontal andextending transversely of the planter, a shaftjournalled in said bearing, a freely swinging arm secured to said shaftand extending substantially rearwardly therefrom, an axle secured to therear end of said arm and extending parallel to said shaft, amultibladerotary scraper journalled upon said axle and haying a hubwitha plurality of scraper bladesextending radiallytherefrom and adaptedtoscrape soil from, the sides and bottom of a furrow formed by the plowof said planter, a bracket rigidly secured to said arm at anintermediate point thereon and extending substantially upwardlytheretill from, a pendant lever pivotally connected to the upper portionof said bracket and depending therefrom, a second shaft rigidly securedto the lower end of said pendant lever and extending a parallel to saidaxle, a hollow roller mounted and @LAUDE K. SHEDD. moan V. @Qi'lfi.

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